The Only Exception
by momp
Summary: Arthur Kirkland lost his parents when he was 13 years old,and he was left to take care of his younger brother, Peter. He promised he would never love anyone ever again, aside from Peter. That is, until he met Alfred F. Jones. UsXUk
1. Prologue:  And That Was The Day I Swore

**'Ello! It's CanadaPelt, formerly Invader Mizzy. (Name change. XP) So, this is my newest story, inspired by "The Only Exception" by Paramore. It's a UsUK fanfic, also my first Hetalia fanfic, so it might not be too good ^^**

**I'll try to stay in character, but sometimes I may go a little out of character, I hope you don't mind. ^_^**

**Btw, yaoi is in this. o3o Don't like, don't read. Now good day. XD Also, human names are used.**

**Enjoy! 3**

_**The Only Exception**_

_**Prologue**_

_Thursday, January 26th, 1997_

Arthur walked down the snowy streets of Massachusetts. It had been a year since he, his brother, Peter, and his parents had moved to the United States. He was currently thirteen years old, while Peter was only four. Arthur had been picking up Peter from his daycare, which he stayed until 6:00 PM. Why? Because Arthur's parents had allowed that. And Arthur never argued with his mother and father, for he wanted to gain as much respect from them as possible. He loved his parents more than anything in the world, even more than Peter, who was no more than a ball of trouble to Arthur. If anything ever happened to his parents, Arthur was sure to go with them, even if it meant dying.

"Arthur!" Peter wailed as he held Arthur's hand while walking down the quiet, snowy street. "I'm c-cold!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm cold, too," He replied. "But we're almost to the house, so you can wait. You're wearing a coat, gloves, scarf, and hat. You'll be fine." He gave Peter an annoyed glance. Peter simply sighed and they continued on walking.

By the time they returned to their apartment, it was 6:45 PM. Arthur opened the apartment door and let out a big groan. "Peter, if you didn't stay at that damn daycare so late, you wouldn't be so bloody cold coming home," He hissed to himself as he removed his coat and hung it up on the coathanger. Peter had ran inside immediately and ran into the bathroom, for it was always the warmest room in the apartment. Arthur grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge and propped himself on the couch.

He turned on the TV and watched the evening news. A few reports came on- mostly about economy or some shooting somewhere. The weather forcast was, once again, snow all week long.

"Bloody hell," Arthur cursed in a sigh. "I'm tired of all this snow."

Peter came bounding out of the bathroom. "All better!" He announced proudly.

"Does it take you half an hour to warm up?" Arthur asked.

"I went potty, too."

"Does that take half an hour, too?"

Peter nodded, then ran off to his bedroom before his older brother could ask any more questions.

Arthur let out a small chuckle. Always count on Peter to amuse someone.

Then, the phone rang.

Arthur got up and walked to the kitchen, where the phone was. He read the I.D. Not recognizable, but the number seemed to be from around the area, so, Arthur answered. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Arthur Kirkland?" A voice asked from the other line.

"Y-Yes," Arthur replied hesitantly. "Might I ask who this is?" The person he was talking to sounded strangely familiar...

"Oh, right, excuse me. This is Doctor Beth, you know, the family doctor?"

Ah. Arthur calmed a little. "Oh, hello! Is there a problem?"

There was then a silence, and it wasn't just an I-forgot-what-I-was-going-to-say silence, it was a something-is-wrong silence. And Arthur didn't like it.

"Um...Doctor?" Arthur broke the strange silence. "Is there a problem?" He repeated.

Doctor Beth finally began hesitantly. "...Actually, yes, Arthur, there is a bit of a problem," Was that...sadness in her voice? "You see, your parents..."

Arthur froze. His _parents?_ What about them? Did something...bad happen to them?

"Oh, Arthur, I'm so sorry..." Beth continued.

"...Go on," Arthur pressed. He needed to know what was up!

"Arthur, your parents have died in a car accident. I'm so sorry."

Arthur stepped out of his Aunt's car, with Peter holding his hand. He had returned from his parents funeral. His whole world had become a dizzy blur. He hadn't smiled once in about a week. Not since he heard about...No, he couldn't even think about it anymore. Peter and Arthur and cried together after learning the news, and they had fallen asleep on the couch. The days following was nothing but pure gloom and depression. Even the weather was gloomy- not a single spot of sunshine, even though it was Winter.

"Are you sure you can take care of Peter and yourself, Arthur?" Arthur's aunt, Mary, asked from the window of the car.

Arthur nodded. "Yes...I'll be fine. Peter's not too much trouble..."

Mary had a slightly concerned face. "Alright, dear. Well, if there's anything you need, don't be afraid to call me!"

"Okay. Say bye to Aunt Mary, Peter."

Peter said nothing. He was looking down at the ground. Arthur didn't scold. He gave a wave to Mary, and the car rolled away.

Arthur unlocked the apartment and walked inside.

Peter walked gloomily and slowly to his room.

Arthur then walked into his own room and changed out of his suit into a t-shirt and jeans. That was when he made a vow.

"I can't bear to lose anymore loved ones. With the exception of Peter, I will no longer love anyone else."

**Not very long, but the actual chapters will be longer! ;)**

**Anyway, I don't wanna type much; It's nearly 4 AM and I wanna get some sleep. =_O"**

**R&R! I always look for new ways to improve my writing!**

**~CanadaPelt**


	2. Chapter 1:Keeping a Comfortable Distance

**Wow, I've gotten so many reviews already! This might just be my most successful story! :O Anyway, we don't meet Alfred in this chapter, but we get a glimpse of him at the very end. ;)**

The Only Exception

Chapter One

_April 4th, 2007_

Arthur sat silently on the porch of his apartment with a cup of tea. The final dump of snow had finally begun to melt, even though Spring had already begun. He silently watched the sun rise, as he did every morning since his parents death- about ten years ago. He had done fine taking care of himself and Peter, and had only worried when one of their neighbors, known as Kiku, had been robbed. Other than that, everything had gone just fine.

Then again, it still wasn't very pleasant waking up every morning in your bed, knowing that you're parents really are dead, and it hadn't been some big, long, scary nightmare.

Sighing, Arthur walked back inside and silently closed the porch door, careful not to make any loud noises that could wake Peter. He put his tea cup in the sink and sat down on couch. And he began to think. He thought about his parents. He thought about Peter. He even thought about how he never fit in at school, even though he was now graduated. He thought about everything in his life that had happened so far.

"Arthur?" Peter's voice broke Arthur from his thoughts. "What are you doing?"

Arthur was surprised to see Peter up this early- He normally slept in quite a bit. "Oh, uh," He stammered. "Just thinking, that's all."

Peter smiled. "Oh, okay!" With that said and done, he hopped on back to his bedroom, his stuffed bunny in hand.

Chuckling a bit, Arthur got up from the couch and went into his bedroom to get a little more sleep. He lay down in his bed and felt all his senses go numb as he fell into a deep sleep.

Arthur woke up in a soft, vast meadow. He automatically knew he was dreaming, because oddly, he often had dreams in which he woke up in a meadow. He sat up and looked around him. The same field as always, with it's tall, elegant trees and a peacefully flowing river. Another feature Arthur noticed in this dream was that it was always sunny, and never a single thing was in the sky, with the exception of the sun, which shone proudly down on the Earth.

Standing up, Arthur felt the grass tickle his legs and kind of shook his leg and smirked. He was glad to be here- away from his worries and sorrowness of life. In this place, he could do whatever he liked, run, frollic, swim, and just act like a child again. He didn't care if it was just a dream. He was at peace.

Out of his happiness, Arthur began to run through the meadow, laughing calmly. His wild, blonde hair blew in the warm, springy air as he continued to frolic through the meadow.

"Arthur?" A familiar voice made Arthur stop dead in his tracks. Turning around, he saw a tall, female figure in the distance, waving to him gracefully.

Arthur's eyes widened. "M...Mother?" He muttered as he began to walk over to the figure, who appeared to be his deceased mother.

Arthur's mother laughed. "Come here, darling!" She called.

"Ahaha!" Arthur bellowed in excitement. He closed his eyes and darted across the meadow to reach his mother, smiling widely in doing so.

But, when he opened his eyes, standing only inches from where his mother was, there was nobody there. Arthur's smile disappeared, his eyebrows fell down, and his eyes formed tears. He had a chance of seeing his mother for the first time in 10 years, and she had disappeared.

Arthur looked up at the sky, and gasped. The once blue sky was now nothing but black. He looked back down and noticed the trees begin to fade to mist. Soon, everything surrounding Arthur, including the ground, were nothing more than dull gray mist.

_Something isn't right, _Arthur thought as he looked around._ All of my other meadow dreams ended long before this, and they ended with me falling back asleep on the ground._ He took a step forward, and ended up falling into the blackness of the atmosphere. _Bloody hell! _He panicked as he squirmed his arms and legs, hoping to find something to stop him from falling. But there was nothing in the eerie blackness.

Yes, it was an eerie blackness. It wasn't your average darkness you would get if the power in your house went out. It was a very creepy blackness, and it made Arthur feel dizzy to his head.

After a few more moments of falling, Arthur landed on some kind of ground with a thud. "Agh," Arthur cried in alarm as he hit the dark ground. He couldn't see anything around him, if there even was anything around him.

"What the hell...?" Arthur whispered, although he meant to speak louder. "Where am I?" He tried looking at his hand, but he couldn't see it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur spotted a light. "Ah!" He exclaimed. As the light came closer, it turned it two lights. And that was when Arthur realized he was in the path of a car.

"S-Shit!" Arthur cursed in fear and shock. He attempted to pick up his legs to run, but they wouldn't budge. He tried harder, pulling his legs with full force, but they wouldn't move. The car zoomed closer.

Arthur screamed. "Dammit! Why can't I move?" He had never been so terrifying, dreaming or not.

As the car approached, just inches away from him, Arthur heard his name.

"Arthur!"

Arthur opened his eyes quickly, and he found himself in his bed. He looked over and saw Peter staring at him worryingly.

"Arthur!" Peter exclaimed.

Arthur sat up and rubbed his head. "Ah...What is it?" He stammered.

Peter pointed to the window. "There's a man outside!"

"There's men outside all the time." Arthur stared at Peter like he was crazy.

"No, I think this one's hurt or something!" Peter shook his head. "He collapsed about 10 minutes ago and hasn't moved since."

"Oh!" Arthur was suddenly wide awake. "Why didn't you say so?" He hopped out of bed and rushed to his window. "Oh my..."

Sure enough, there was a man. A dirty blonde haired man, laying unconcious on the sidewalk.

**Agh! Finally finished! Sorry for the slow update. ^^ I don't write all the time, plus I'm working on an original story. **

**Tell me what you think!**

**~CanadaPelt**


	3. Chapter Two: A Tight Grip of Reality

**Ack! I finished this on Saturday, but I couldn't put this chapter up until now because every time I tried to, the website gave me an error message. D: Which is weird, because I hit the edit button on some of my other stories and it worked just fine...Oh well.**

**The Only Exception**

**Chapter Two**

As he was grabbing his jacket from the coat rack, Arthur turned to Peter, who was still looking out of the window. "Peter." Arthur said his little brother's name, bringing Peter to his attention. "Stay inside. I'll be right back."

Peter nodded, and continued looking out the window. "I'll be here in case that guy's just tricking you."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur opened the door to his apartment and rushed down the stairs of the complex. He opened the main door and rushed over to the man, who was still laying motionless on the ground.

"Uh...S-Sir?" Arthur gently shook the man. No responce. Arthur checked the pulse. _He's still alive..._ He thought. He looked up at the balconies of the apartments, to see if maybe he had fallen off of a balcony. _Arthur, you idiot! _He scolded himself. _Who's stupid enough to fall off of a balcony? Besides, I don't think I've seen him around here before..._

Arthur picked up the man. He was quite heavy. "Oof," Arthur grunted in surprise of the man's weight. He began carrying him back to the main door of the apartment complex when Arthur's neighbor, Kiku, emerged from the door, dressed for work.

Kiku noticed Arthur and stared gently at him. "Arthur," He said in a heavy Japanese accent. "What do you have there?"

"W-Well..." Arthur began, before grunting. "It's obviously a unconcious man." He joked.

"I see that," Kiku stated with a small chuckle. "Would you like some help carrying him?" He began walking towards Arthur. "I don't mind being a few minutes late for work."

Staring at his Japanese neighbor for a few moments, Arthur finally nodded. "That would be nice, thank you."

Kiku nodded back and grabbed the unconcious man's legs. "You carry his head." He ordered quietly.

"O-Okay," Arthur stuttered. As they walked backwards back into the apartment complex and up the stairs, Arthur stared at the unconcious man's face. He found something unusually attractive about the man. _Huh..._

"Arthur," Kiku's voice made Arthur jump. "We're at your door."

Arthur shook his head in bewilderment. "Sorry, I kind of zoned out." He removed one hand from the man's head, and banged on his door. "Peter! Come open the door!" He spoke loudly enough that hopefully Peter could hear him.

Surely enough, Peter was at the door just seconds after. He stared at the man in amazement. "Oh, you got him! Good job!" He said, then waved hello to Kiku.

Arthur turned to Kiku. "I can handle it now. Peter can help me. Thank you for your help!" He told Kiku.

Kiku nodded. "Hai. I'd best be off now. Goodbye." He walked back down the stairs and out of the apartment complex.

Arthur turned back to Peter. "Help me," He said. Peter grabbed the man's legs and they carried him inside the apartment and carefully layed him on the couch. Arthur went to his kitchen sink and filled a glass cup with water. He then went over to the man and splashed a little bit of the water on him.

The man coughed, and his eyes wearily opened. They widened when he saw Arthur, who was unfamiliar to him. "Whoa..." He stammered. "Where...am I?"

"You're inside my house," Arthur said. "My name is Arthur. Arthur Kirkland." He introduced. "I saw you fainted on the sidewalk and I came and got you."

"Oh...is that so?" The man said. He sounded as if he hadn't spoken out loud in several days. "Well, thank you. My name is Alfred," He said, then mocked Arthur's introduction. "Alfred F. Jones."

Peter's head peeked out of the bathroom door. He had emerged there incase the man was a bad person. "..Is he safe?" He asked. When Arthur nodded, Peter ran up to his older brother and Alfred. "Hello there!" He cheerfully greeted. He held out his hand for Alfred to shake, but Alfred didn't do anything but stare sympathetically at Peter. "My name is Peter!"

Arthur shot a glare at his younger brother that said "Either calm down or go away."

Alfred let out a small chuckle. "Hello, Peter," He lifted his arm and waved. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too!" Peter exclaimed. Then, he leaned close to Alfred and whispered in his ear. "Arthur's kind of crazy sometimes, so if he bothers you, come to me!"

"Peter!" Arthur scolded, which sent the young blonde boy scurrying into his bedroom.

Relaxing again, Arthur returned his eyes to Alfred's. "So, what are doing out here? I'm almost positive you don't live in these apartments." He asked.

Alfred nodded in a tired way. "Yeah...I'm not from here..." He muttered. "I used to live about 2 hours from here." The dirty blonde explained.

"Wow, that's a long way," Arthur remarked surprisingly. Had Alfred walked all the way here? Why was he here? Was he homeless? So many questions of curiousity flooded Arthur's head. Oh, how he wanted to know the answers to them all. But, he decided not to ask, for Arthur might sound nosy.

He did, however, have one question he wanted to ask the blue-eyed man.

"Say, where are your parents? Aren't they worried about you venturing off like that?" Arthur asked. He was momentarily reminded of his own parents, and how they would have been worried senseless if Arthur had wandered off without permission. He quickly pushed the thought away, though.

Alfred hesitated for a few moments. He seemed uncomfortable at the sudden question.

Arthur was about to say "Nevermind," But he got a responce just as he had opened his mouth.

"Oh, they...They didn't want me. So I ran away." Arthur could almost hear bluff in Alfred's voice, but he wasn't quite sure.

"Oh, sorry about that," Arthur replied quietly. He looked down, only looking at the man next to him with the corner of his eyes. "My parents aren't here for me anymore, either."

**Done~**

**I've decided I'm going to start making my chapters longer. Which means it'll take longer to finish, but it gives you all more to read when it's put up! I think that's fair. ;)**

**I'm on Spring Break, but since FF wasn't working right for me, I really couldn't upload a whole lot. I can't write a lot the rest of the week, either, because today I'm going to see my cousin's who came to visit from southern Indiana, and Friday and Sunday are really my only free days because Saturday I'm going to my other cousins' hosue. ^_^"**

**I'm also trying to improve my writing, because I am forever amazed by the writing skills of Mister Melancholy. She's just simply a talented author, and I'm in love with her "143" story. Go check it out if you haven't, it's great. ;D**

**You know what else is awesome? The abbreviations of this story spells out TOE. XD**

**ONE MORE THING! If any fans of this story have the new Pokemon game, Black and White, and you like the pairing NxWhite, I just uploaded a new story called "Skeleton Life" that's based around those two. Check it out if you want! ^^**

**~CanadaPelt**


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